Commercial Confidential: Stonecrest at Piper Glen

By Payton Guion, staff writer The Mecklenburg Times 

Published: June 27, 2013
Time posted: 11:48 am

Pass through Stonecrest at Piper Glen to catch a film or grab a bite on a Friday night and the shopping center is packed with both high schoolers and families, looking to relax after a long week.

Cars from just about all the luxury brands can be seen in the parking lot as visitors watch their movies or eat their dinners, which is no surprise considering that Stonecrest is situated in an area with some of the highest incomes in Charlotte.

But just because the center is within spitting distance of some of Charlotte’s wealthiest residents doesn’t mean that leasing the center is a breeze. Darrell Palasciano, a broker in the Charlotte office of Atlanta-based The Shopping Center Group, which leases Stonecrest, said an affluent center brings unique challenges.

“What you find in these centers is the customer expects that experience,” he said. “Whether it’s a fountain or outdoor seating areas, the customer expects that when they’re choosing what shopping center they’re going to go to.

“The customer is kind of pushing that (experience), and the retailers or restaurants are going there for the customers. And all that spells higher rent and higher maintenance charges.”

But Palasciano said, for the retailers and restaurants, it can be worth it to pay a premium for exposure to wealthier clientele.

According to The Shopping Center Group website, 162,000 people live within five miles of Stonecrest, with an average household income of $116,000. For comparison, the area median income per household in Charlotte is $53,146, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Palasciano said that retailers coming into a high-end center, like Stonecrest, understand that they’re going to have to pay more in rents and maintenance costs. That’s the price to pay to be near such customers, he said.

“Retailers understand in order to have the high end customer traffic that they’re gonna need to make that additional investment,” he said. “By putting good retailers and desirable uses in the shopping center, you get more customers, which is the goal, and you get more desirable users.”

 

Center name: Stonecrest at Piper Glen

Address: Rea Road at the interchange of Interstate 485

Square feet: 419,914

Owner: RReef

Leasing company: The Shopping Center Group

Vacancy rate: Less than 1 percent

Lease rates: The Shopping Center Group isn’t quoting lease rates at the moment.

Major tenants and square feet occupied: Regal Cinemas (80,668); Harris Teeter (55,482); Michaels Stores Inc. (20,960)

Did you know? Target is in the shopping center, but isn’t considered a tenant because the company owns its own land.

Original article appeared here